Internal rotary valve-fluid pressure transducer



Nov. 5, 1963 c. A. CLARK 31@9,408

INTERNAL ROTARY VALVE FLUID PRESSURE TRANSDUCER Filed Nov. 50, 1959 2Sheets-Sheet 1 i l INVENTOR CHESTER A. CLARK MMU/ ATTORNEY c. A. CLARK3,109,408

INTERNAL ROTARY VALVE FLUID PRESSURE TRANSDUCER Nov. 5, 1963 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 30, 1959 INVENTOR CHESTER A. CLAR K ATTORNEYUnited States Patent 3,1624% INTERNAL RUTARY VALVE-FLUKE) PRESSURETRANSEUCEP.

Chester A. Ciarh, Waldorf, Md, assiguor to the United States of Americaas represented by the Secretary of the Navy Filed Nov. 30, 1959, Ser.No. 856,396 4- Ciaims. (Cl. rte-27 (Granted under Titie 35, US. (lode(1952), sec. 266) The invention described herein may be manufactured andused by or for the Government of the United States of America forgovernmental purposes without the payment of any royalties thereon ortherefor.

This invention relates to sound transducers and particularly to atransducer for use underwater which operates on power supplied by a gasor liquid circulated under high pressure.

A hydraulic transducer similar to the type disclosed herein is found inpatent application Serial No. 815,234. An audio signal is fed into theprior structure by passing a fluid medium therethrough which is set invibration by an external source. Since the fluid passes through aconsiderable length of conduit to reach the transducer, an appreciableamount of energy is lost through the conduit walls during the transfer.A reduction of this loss is desirable, not only to improve theefficiency of the transducer, but also to provide a more concentratedradiation surface for directional sonar systems.

An object of the present invention, therefore, is to provide atransducer of the type described above wherein the audio signal isgenerated entirely within the transducer.

A further object of the invention is to provide a sound transducer whichoperates on a fluid supplied under constant pressure and includes aninternal valve system for generating audio power.

A further object of the invention is to provide a plurality of thetransducers described above wherein the internal valves are externallyconnected and phased to produce a directional source.

These and other objects of the invention are best understood withreference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a front view of the transducer in section to show innerdetail;

FIG. 2 is a side View of the transducer in section;

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of a rotary valve shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is directional array utilizing the transducer of the invention;

:FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a rotary coupling shown in FIG. 4.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 wherein are shown front and side views of thetransducer, the radiating surfaces consist of two flexible walls ordiscs 11 spaced from and separated by a wafer-shaped body portion 12.The edges of the radiating walls are sealed to the body portion by aconventional gasket and screw fastener assembly or by welding. Thecenter of each radiating wall has a piston 13 mounted thereon, and thebody member has a pair of opposed threaded inserts 14 with cylindricalrecesses 15 which receive the pistons.

A fluid under pressure flows into the transducer through a pintle member16. A rotary valve 17 mounted in the body member channels the fluid tothe cylindrical recesses or openings 14. In-phase conduits l8 supplyingthe inner ends of the openings are used in alternation with antiphaseconduits 19 supplying the outer ends to apply a push-pull motion to thepiston. Conduits 18 and 19 also are alternately rechanneled by the valvepermitting fluid 3,1 @9 4, Patented Nov. e, was

displaced by the piston to flow out of the transducer through the pintle16.

A more detailed view of the rotary valve is shown in FIG. 3. The centerpintle member is cylindrical and contains a central circumferential andtwo similar end grooves 30 which are fed by an input conduit 31. A pairof intermediate grooves 3-2 are also provided axially spaced betweenadjacent pairs of the central and end grooves. The intermediate groovesfeed directly. into the output conduit 33. The phasing conduits 18 and19 which feed the cylindrical recess terminate at a fixed cylindricalsleeve 34 perforated to provide a portal 35 for each of these conduits.The portal may be diamondshaped or have other configurations to providevarious input waveforms. The rotor is a hollow cylindrical member 36with rectangular perforations 37 laid out in a specific pattern, asshown, to provide the proper switching sequence in the fluid system. Theperforations are equally distributed around the circumference to providebalanced operation at high speeds.

The above system can be provided with several desirable features.Expansion tanks 20, shown in FIG. 1, may be connected to each of theinput and output conduits to absorb switching transients. The valve maybe driven by an hydraulic motor supplied from the same source andperhaps even from the same conduits as those supplying the pistons. Thepintle, instead of being stationary, may be attached to and driven bythe rotor to supply switching power to additional transducers.

FIG. 4 shows an array of transducers 50 wherein the rotors and pintlesare connected to operate as a unit. The rotor shafts have also beenextended through the transducer body member to facilitate coupling. Allof the rotor shafts must be interconnected in such an array to provideproper phasing. For example, a single motor 53 and a number of gearboxes 54 may be used. Packing glands must of course be provided in thiscase for both rotor and pintle shafts to prevent the ingress of theexternal medium when these transducers are subjected externally to highambient pressures. Alternatively, in such instances, the interior of thetransducer may be flooded with a fluid to balance the external pressure.To equalize internal and external pressure a chamber 23 is drilled intothe body which communicates with the external medium through passageway22 and the internal medium through a flexible or sylphon diaphragm 24.The entire array may be encased in a fluid filled box '51, shown in FIG.4. Fluid is fed into such an array through rotary coupling joints 52.

FIG. 5 shows a typical rotating coupling joint for use in the transducerarray of FIG. 4. Fluid enters and leaves the joint through a pair ofstationary supply conduits 6t and 61. Each supply conduit feeds one ofthe grooves in the joint rotor shaft 62. The rotor shaft 62 alsocontains a pair of conduits 63 and 64, each of which communicates withone of the rotor grooves. The motor shaft 62; may form the upper end ofthe pintle, so that the latter conduits feed into the conduits shown inthe pintle of FIG. 3. When the pintle and valve rotor of FIG. 3 are aunit the conduits may extend uninterrupted through the valve rotor shaftto feed a subsequent transducer. This, of course, will require a muchlarger shaft than the shaft 38 shown in FIG. 3.

The transducer may be powered by a variety of energy sources. Liquidunder pressure may be supplied, for example, by an electric or gasolinepowered pump. Steam or other vapors can be generated at high pressure byboiling. An electric pumping system may be installed completely withinthe transducer housing eliminating the need for outside supply pipes. Insome cases a scavenging line may be desired to remove fluid which leaksinto the 2. Atransducer according to claim 1 wherein said valve housing.omprises a hollow cylindrical rotor with a plurality of Obviously manymodifications and variations of the apertures therein, a cylindricalpintle mounted snugly present invention are possible in the light of theabove 5 Within said rotor and having at least two circumferentialteachings. It is ther fore to be understood that within the [5] grooveseach in constant communication with a diilerent scope of the appendedclaims the invention may be pracone of said apertures, said pint ledefining an input con- (iced otherwise than as specifically des ribedduit communicating with one of said grooves and an outh is l i d i putconduit communicating with a different one of said 1. A sound transducerfor use in a liquid medium comgrow/es, Said FO'IQF being mounted WithinSaid y 80 that prising a pair of substantially identical spaced parallel10 said apertures register With 4116 ends Of said first and 86C- planarwall members having transverse dimensions which 0nd Conduits at least0H6 Position of Said IOtOrare large compared to the distancetherebetween, a wafer- A transducer according to Claim 2 W ein Saidshaped body member lying between and parallel to said Pifile i5 fixedrelative to Said ywall members and having transverse dimensions substan-A transducfir according Claim 2 Wlw in said tially equal to thetransverse dimensions of said wall meml5 Pinfle is integrally attachedto Said rotor and Said Output hers said wall and body members beinginterconnected and input Conduits @Xtfind through Said rotor to Provideand sealed at their periphery, a separate piston attached fluid Couplinga Second transducerto each of said Wall members, said body memberdefining first and second cylindrical openings each receiving one ofsaid pistons, a first conduit means for introducing a 20 driving fluidinto said cylindrical openings, a second con- Reierences Cited in thefile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS duit means for extracting saidfluid from said openings, 2,587,843 Horslcy et 1 Mar 4 5 and a rotaryvalve means mounted within said body mern- 2,304 042 Gaureau g 7 9 herwith the axis of said valve parallel to said planar wall 2,865 016 H i21 1953 members to alternately open and close said first and second 25conduit means.

1. A SOUND TRANSDUCER FOR USE IN A LIQUID MEDIUM COMPRISING A PAIR OFSUBSTANTIALLY IDENTICAL SPACED PARALLEL PLANAR WALL MEMBERS HAVINGTRANSVERSE DIMENSIONS WHICH ARE LARGE COMPARED TO THE DISTANCETHEREBETWEEN, A WAFERSHAPED BODY MEMBER LYING BETWEEN AND PARALLEL TOSAID WALL MEMBERS AND HAVING TRANSVERSE DIMENSIONS SUBSTANTIALLY EQUALTO THE TRANSVERSE DIMENSIONS OF SAID WALL MEMBERS SAID WALL AND BODYMEMBERS BEING INTER-CONNECTED AND SEALED AT THEIR PERIPHERY, A SEPARATEPISTON ATTACHED TO EACH OF SAID WALL MEMBERS, SAID BODY MEMBER DEFININGFIRST AND SECOND CYLINDRICAL OPENINGS EACH RECEIVING ONE OF SAIDPISTONS, A FIRST CONDUIT MEANS FOR INTRODUCING A DRIVING FLUID INTO SAIDCYLINDRICAL OPENINGS, A SECOND CONDUIT MEANS FOR EXTRACTING SAID FLUIDFROM SAID OPENINGS, AND A ROTARY VALVE MEANS MOUNTED WITHIN SAID BODYMEMBER WITH THE AXIS OF SAID VALVE PARALLEL TO SAID PLANAR WALL MEMBERSTO ALTERNATELY OPEN AND CLOSE SAID FIRST AND SECOND CONDUIT MEANS.